Futuremark, makers of 3DMark, have launched PeaceKeeper, the first comprehensive browser benchmarking suite.

The results are intriguing -- Apple's Safari and Google Chrome are the top browsers speed-wise. Windows 7 beats Windows Vista with similar hardware and the same browser version, but still lags behind OS X. And the hardware on the system, particularly the CPU dramatically influences results. (Source: PeaceKeeper)

The makers of 3DMark take on the web

Mozilla, Apple, Google, Opera, and
Microsoft all claim the same thing -- that their browser is the
fastest. So who is telling the truth?

Until
recently, that was a tough question to answer. Sure there was a
handful of free tests, such as SunSpider's JavaScript
benchmark, Celtic Kane's JavaScript
benchmark (a bit older), or the crude CSS benchmark posted
on HowToCreate. However, these tests all had one thing in
common -- they did not fully test the browser's speed across a
variety of rich-content standards.

FutureMark, makers of the
popular 3DMark
hardware benchmarking software, know all about how to provide a
cohesive benchmarking suite. So amid ongoing work on PCMark,
3DMark, and even a video
game (Shattered Horizon), FutureMark decided to try to settle the
browser bragging match once and for all by releasing a comprehensive
test suite.

The result is the Peacekeeper benchmarking suite,
which is now available as a free
online application. DailyTech had the pleasure of
talking with FutureMark President Oliver Baltuch and learning more
about this exciting new test, as well as some of its more interesting
results.

Currently, the test covers page rendering using
everything from HTML 5.0 to CSS. It also includes a number of
tests to gauge JavaScript performance with typical algorithms such as
encrypts, filters, parses, sorts, and array manipulation. DOM
performance is also tested. Currently, flash performance tests
are not included. Mr. Baltuch says that a second version is in
the works "that would include more of the HTML 5.0 and something
that works to measure flash performance as well as possibly power
performance."

The core set of tests now simulate
conditions that might be encountered on content-heavy pages such as
YouTube, Facebook, or Meebo. The results are intriguing.
For the same browser version tested across different OS
implementations running on virtually the same hardware Mr. Baltuch
states, "The Apple [computers] tend to be 5-10 percent faster
[than Windows machines]. We believe that is based on the
middleware of the OS. We believe that it is more
streamlined."

Despite Chrome and Safari being the
fastest, Mr. Baltuch says he uses Opera 10.0 beta 2 for browsing
because he likes the user interface and features the best. He
also praised Mozilla users for their very helpful feedback. He
says that some browser makers have embraced his company's efforts,
while others remain standoffish.

He states, "Some seem to
be happy. The Norwegians (Opera) seem to hate us at the moment
(FutureMark is Finnish). The guys at Microsoft have been silent
so far."

For those interested, Peacekeaper is funded by
advertising revenue and is also funded by sales of consulting
services to large businesses. Also, the benchmark has helped to
increased the adoption of FutureMark's paid products like PCMark,
according to Mr. Baltuch.

A couple of final interesting
notes. Mr. Baltuch says that the test is compatible with the
popular Apple iPhone. He also notes that there is a large
difference between web performance, going from a netbook processor
(such as the Intel Atom) to a high-end desktop processor (such as the
Intel Core i7). This is due to the CPU's pivotal role in
running increasingly heavy web applications. He also says that
for users looking to try something off the typical beaten path, the
Epiphany (browser packaged with Gnome Linux), Shiira (Webkit-based),
and Midori (also Webkit-based) browsers all provide relative good
Linux browsing performance.

Mr. Baltuch says his company loves
feedback, so feel free to head over to the Peacekeeper page, check it
out, and leave your comments.

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This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

This is a Java example, so it shouldn't differ from browser to browser, but I can nevertheless give you an example of a computationally intensive application that you run in your browser. Here are 160+ DOS games that you can play in your browser: http://www.classicdosgames.com/online.php

The site uses a Java PC emulator called JPC. JPC claims to run at 20% native speed, which I think is an exaggeration. It can play DOOM and Strife, for instance, but slowly.

Once again, since Sun makes the JVM, this isn't a browser-specific example. Still, there's a NES emulator that you can run in a broswer (vNES) and now an x86 emulator. Google's upcoming Chrome OS is designed to let a netbook surf the web and nothing else. Google is counting on you using web-based office suites so that you won't miss Microsoft Office. In fact, Google wants you to do everything online. Cloud computing is coming, and cheap netbooks without hard drives (just an SD card reader) may usher in an era where even your data is online.

Some of this ambitious online future will be based on HTML 5 and JavaScript, so your choice of browser could make a big difference in the near future. To those who think that browsers render pages and run script fast enough, I say: just wait!